NSG 6440 Assignment: Scope of Practice
NSG 6440 Assignment: Scope of Practice
Determined the scope of practice in your state.
Described the difference in practice between physician assistants (PAs) and NPs in your state.
Described prescriptive privileges and how to obtain them in your state.
Used correct spelling, grammar, and professional vocabulary. Cited all sources using APA format.
Scope of practice describes the services that a qualified health professional is deemed competent to perform, and permitted to undertake – in keeping with the terms of their professional license.
NSG 6440 Assignment: Scope of Practice
The Nursing Scope and Standards of Practice describe the “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” “why,” and “how” of nursing practice:
- Who: Registered Nurses (RN) and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRN) comprise the “who” constituency and have been educated, titled, and maintain active licensure to practice nursing.
- What: Nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response; and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, groups, communities, and populations.
- Where: Wherever there is a patient in need of care.
- When: Whenever there is a need for nursing knowledge, compassion, and expertise.
- Why: The profession exists to achieve the most positive patient outcomes in keeping with nursing’s social contract and obligation to society.
When each of these questions is answered, the complex considerations in scope of practice become clear. In a profession as dynamic as nursing, and with evolving health care demands, changes in scope of practice and overlapping responsibilities are inevitable in our current and future health care system.
The American Nurses Association (ANA) believes that patients’ interests are best served by a health care system in which many different types of qualified professionals are available, accessible, and working together – collaboratively. Therefore, it is important for scope of practice to reflect a professional’s true expertise.
ANA is a founding member of the Coalition for Patient’s Rights (CPR), which was established to improve patients’ access to the health care providers of their choice, and the range of services those providers offer. The CPR consists of more than 35 organizations representing a variety of licensed health care professionals, each providing a diverse array of safe, effective, and affordable care.